Oil Drilling in Our Protected Lands

I wonder why the subject of opening up our protected wildlife refuges for oil drilling has so much public support. For me, it seems simple: Drilling for oil in these protected areas is a temporary fix, but the environmental effects have the potential to be devestating and long lasting. In order to open up these areas for oil drilling, we'd need to install roads and landfills and long miles of pipelines. We'd risk oil spills, and we'd make this land unsightly, and we'd impact the wildlife of these areas.

I'd rather us focus on developing alternative sources of energy than just bide our time and devestate the protected lands. Why, then, is this such a costly issue for Democrats? Why, during this time when our country seems to be more environmentally friendly, do the majority of people seem to be in favor of this drilling? I really don't understand why so many people support the Republicans on this issue and support drilling in our wildlife refuges.

Please, enlighten me. I'm so confused.

Still No Tickets to the Convention

I'm a little disappointed. As an Obama supporter, I've been on the list of emails for all of the important information in his campaign. A little more than a week ago, when they opened up their site for people to sign up for tickets, I was one of the first on and entered. I crossed my fingers, and...

...I made it onto the waiting list. I knew approximately half of all the tickets were going to people from Colorado, and since I was so early with registration, I thought I'd have a good chance. They must have some sort of selection process, though, because I told a girl I work with about the website. She signed up one day later than me, and she managed to score tickets to the event of the decade.

I suppose there's still a chance I'll make it. When people don't pick up their tickets, they're redistributed to others on the waiting list. Still, with less than a week to go, I'm less hopeful than I was earlier.

On the positive side, Andrew wasn't looking forward to the crowd and chaos, anyway. He simply agreed to go with me because he didn't want me going by myself. If we don't get tickets, I suppose we can pop some corn and watch it from the comfort of our living room. Not quite as good, but still memorable.

I love watching the Olympics!

Yes, I'm hooked on the Olympics. Every summer, I make sure to catch as much of the women's gymnastics as possible (winter games, I love figure skating!).

Before the individual uneven bars today, I got the chance to watch some of the track and field events. I discovered the pole vaulting is an incredible sport to watch. Thankfully, I also had the opportunity to watch the American men sweep the 400 meter hurdles event.

There's one aspect of the games this year that's bugging me, though. Every single women's gymnastics finals, the announcers seem to accuse the Chinese women of not being 16. It really hits a nerve with me, maybe because I was always so young looking at that age. These women clearly look 16 to me. Their passports say their 16. The Olympic committee says their 16. Drop it already. I'm not sure why, but it really, really bugs me. They're all at least 15. Let's get over that issue and enjoy the gymnastic games already!

Me, a Home Owner?

Andrew and I have recently been discussing buying a home summer 2009 or 2010. I've heard a lot of people mention a grant for first time home buyers, but it's very difficult to find anything on the web.

I found the government's website http://www.grants.gov from many websites that offer help to find federal and state grants. However, no matter how hard I search, I can't find any information at that site for grants for first time home buyers. HUD had a website that had step by step instructions on how to apply, but they didn't explain which grant to search for (they simply said to search by the number of the grant without offering any example numbers). Additionally, I couldn't find much information on Colorado's assistance for first time home buyers, except to learn that this state doesn't offer grants.

I was wondering if any of my readers knew any specific information. What grant do I search for? Is it easy to apply? Does a person apply before they find a house or after?

Thanks!

Smells Like Burning Plastic

There's a wildfire at Green Mountain! For my family who were in Denver for Grandma's memorial, we drove through that area on the way up to the mountains. It wasn't too far from where we pulled over to check on the rental car.

There are quite a few homes in the area of the wildfire; none have been damaged, but there are a lot of evacuations just in case.

Living in Colorado, we've had our share of forest fires. However, this one is so close that it makes it a bit difficult to breathe outside. That, and instead of smelling like a campfire, it stinks like burning plastic.

Hurray to the firefighters who already have it 85% contained. Hopefully, everything will go as best as possible.
http://www.krdo.com/Global/story.asp?S=8786770